Cowled and masked, they're all Nameless Ghouls -- save for frontman Papa Emeritus II, who's also masked and anonymous. The troupe has released two albums of doomy hard rock -- including this year's "Infestissumam" -- and according to one Nameless Ghoul who implied he's the band's chief songwriter, he and his bandmates are more concerned with what people hear than waht they see.

"First and foremost, we are an entertainment group," explains the Ghoul. "It's supposed to be something that is art. It's made up for us and for everybody else that's willing to dive into it. It was very important for us to understand it ourselves, and with the anonymity thing...it's easy for us to step out of it and regard our band and our piece of art openly.

"Most bands that have their identity smeared all over it cannot really do that, because they cannot see what they're doing. With Ghost we can literally have an out-of-body experience and have a clear understand of what we're doing and what it should be."

It may seem like high concept, but Ghost B.C. -- the group had to add the B.C. suffix for trademark reasons in the U.S. -- knows how to have a good time, too. In the lead-up to "Infestissumam," Papa Emeritus declared his candidacy for Pope in December to replace Benedict XVI when he announced his resignation in December. His prospects were weak, of course, and the Nameless Ghoul says he and the rest of Ghost crew weren't heartbroken when the white smoke cleared and Pope Francis had the title.

"Well, we wanted to keep (Papa Emeritus) here, so that was just his folly," the Ghoul says. "He just wanted to expand and progress and all that. But we were actually quite glad he failed. We need him. He signed up for this job, and we weren't really ready to let him go."